Homemade Wood Heating Stove

Lynda Wilson over at The Owner Builder Magazine was kind enough to send me a photo and some text about building a homemade wood stove. It’s a very clever design with adobe surround to retain the heat and has a pizza oven on top.

“I’ve built a wood heater! It’s warm like a rock in the sun, it cooks a good cake, keeps the chai warm and this morning I cooked breakfast in it. And it seems reasonably efficient and clean burning if the shiny glass in the door and the terracotta pink internal walls are anything to go by. Okay, so it’s not a technological marvel boasting fuel-efficient, catalytic burning, knock-ya-socks-off good looks… at a price. It’s not even middle-of-the-road new and shiny off-the-rack gorgeous like the one up the road that the neighbours have installed. It’s certainly affordable, miraculously so and this is the story of its creation.

I wanted something that would burn cleanly and efficiently and heat a large open space for about 12 hours on one feed. My search for a good second-hand wood heater piqued my natural curiosity about the ‘how’ of all things that burned wood and soon I was enthusiastically researching masonry stoves. Having to be resourceful during my life, I have acquired skills. I come from a family that has multiple talents and abilities. We learn from each other. I have a particular zest for learning new skills as a way of surviving hardship and being on my own.”

The complete article with instructions and drawings is available for sale from The Owner Builder Magazine. Order issue #167, October/November 2011.

8 Responses to “Homemade Wood Heating Stove”

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This is a subject I’ve found interesting. Actually grabbed a book on masonry heaters a while back. Not sure I’d get the all clear from my significant other to build something that could literally burn the house down if manufactured incorrectly. Considering that she likes the chonburi design, it’d probably have to be a little more massive than the one in this article.

And man, the Tulikivi masonry heaters sure are pretty. Though obviously I would favor a local mason if they were available. Soapstone heaters are not cheap, alas. Still probably a better investment than a furnace.

It might be wise to also invest in a carbon monoxide detector that is loud enough to wake the dead if you are going to burn wood. Carbon monoxide is deadly in sufficient quantities. It has no smell or taste.

That and keep your stove pipe and chimney clean. And be careful with ashes that you clean out of the stove. I knew someone who almost burned down their house from the hot coals mixed in with the ashes.